Trojan Technologies is dedicated to improving the health of our global environment. We achieve this, in part, by paying close attention to our social, environmental and ethical responsibilities at the community level, as strong communities are the building blocks to a better future.

In Canada alone, over six million people rely on small and rural water systems for drinking water. Globally, this number stretches to 2.5 billion people.

In addition to being remotely located, small water treatment systems are often under resourced, making it difficult to install systems, especially if they require highly trained operators. The result is an increased risk of illness from drinking inadequately treated water and a high number of Boil Water Advisories.

RES’EAU is Canada’s first and only collaborative research initiative devoted to meeting clean water demands in small, rural communities.

RES’EAU aims to protect the health of small, rural, and First Nations communities by producing game-changing water treatment solutions, based on the development and deployment of appropriate technologies and community stakeholder involvement.

The Community Circle Approach

In 2013, RES’EAU began a five-year, $7 million program to refine and expand upon its community-centric, impact-focused research programs – otherwise, known as Community Circles. There are currently six community circles located across British Columbia, each focused on addressing the specific needs of the community.

Adapted from First Nations’ traditional approaches, Community Circles are real-life environments where communities, government agencies, researchers and other relevant partners co-create solutions to water challenges.

“In First Nations communities, historically everyone must buy into a solution before it is implemented. This is especially important when dealing with water treatment technologies as water has cultural and historic relevance to First Nations Communities, and new technologies may require new thinking and acceptance.”

At RES’EAU, this inclusiveness manifests directly in the research process by putting stakeholders from the communities at the heart of the innovation cycle, incorporating research insights at the early stages of development.

It is through RES’EAU’s engaging community circle approach that the community, researchers, and others involved are able to determine what solutions are best suited for each community, measuring success not only by technological advancement, but also by a community and social achievement.

The RES’EAU Pilot Trailer

In addition to Dr. Cairn’s participation with the board, Trojan has been involved in a variety of projects and research initiatives with RES’EAU, including helping to launch their first mobile pilot trailer (through the provision of equipment from VIQUA, a Trojan Technologies business based in Guelph, Ontario).

The mobile unit is used as a convenient way to make different technologies, including UV, available to individual communities and their water treatment system operators. This ultimately helps everyone involved become aware of various technologies’ operational details, and demonstrates the technologies’ performance on the water qualities encountered in different communities.

Utilizing UV technology, as well as filtration and ion exchange, the mobile unit is able directly to evaluate various technological process options that could resolve a community’s water problems and protect community health.

Along with the mobile unit, VIQUA is also involved in a pilot study examining the effectiveness of Point of Entry (POE) water treatment in First Nation communities. POE treatment systems may be an option for small and remote communities where central treatment is not affordable. VIQUA not only aids in supplying the UV system for this pilot, but also plays a large role in the research component of the work.

RES’EAU & UV

UV technology has been an integral part of the research process at RES’EAU since day one. In addition to UV’s ability to inactivate pathogenic organisms and meet water disinfection standards, UV technology is often more culturally acceptable and/or more practical to operate than chemical disinfection technologies such as chlorination. The added benefit is that no disinfection by-products are generated with the use of UV, whereas significant by-products can result with the use of chlorine. In addition, in many remote communities, shipping in chemicals such as chlorine can be problematic.

By first understanding the needs of the community, solutions that meet both the technological and social definition of success have been derived. This model of problem-solving has led to international recognition in research communities, and has the potential to be adopted globally in addressing the problems of small and remote communities

The work of RES’EAU WaterNET is another important reminder of how success in the water industry will come only from multidisciplinary engagement. The Community Circle Approach demonstrates the importance of prioritizing communication with all stakeholders, and it is this holistic approach to research that leads to meaningful and sustainable results.

The rate of generation of knowledge and information is increasing exponentially. In the water industry, papers presented at water conferences every year represent the most current body of knowledge in the industry.

BlueTech Research, a premier global provider of water technology market intelligence, screened nearly 1,000 papers to be presented at WEFTEC 2016 (the largest annual water quality exhibition in the world).

They then created a curated selection of 100 papers that they believe to be the most relevant papers for those looking to keep their pulse on innovation in the water industry. BlueTech states:

“We analyse conference proceedings to identify key trends, hot topics and to gain commercial insights and support our research… to identify the truly impactful papers from the masses out there.”

Trojan Technologies is honoured that the following two papers to be presented at WEFTEC, have been selected by BlueTech as part of their Top 100.

WEFTEC, is the world’s largest annual water quality exhibition, and offers thousands of water quality professionals from around the world the best water quality education and training available today.

Trojan Technologies will have three of our Businesses at the show, where we will be showcasing our technologies and services. So join us in New Orleans, Louisiana from September 24th-28th, 2016, at Booths #3728 & #3734.

Bring Out the Pretzels – Be Our Guest!

On Monday, September 26th, stop by and see us for complimentary snacks and drinks – like gourmet pretzels – and learn about what’s new at Salsnes Filter, TrojanUV and USP Technologies!

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